Hangover Bowl 2014

January 1st marks the day of the annual ARFC Hangover Bowl, a break from rugby to embark upon a different adventure during the NFL playoff season. It's a full contact football tradition on New Years Day where the younger players in the club take on the old to see who earns a spot on the club trophy. Of the 22 who played this year, the cutoff was age 28, which saw Byron Toutant as the youngest player on the Old Boys team at 28.

It was a relatively low scoring battle, with the old guys doing their best to outsmart the young bucks. Quarterback Scott Alexander tried to help his team master the pitch, with occasional success from 'The Bus' Tyler Adams and Toutant who had some big runs. The first touchdown came to the old boys with Jason Dobson reeling in a bullet from Alexander on a crossing route in the endzone.

The young guys answered by putting some rugby into their play calls with a pitch option that saw the ball go through 3 sets of hands before releasing Jordan Tait on the outside for a score. As the game progressed, both teams exchanged turnovers, Alexander securing two interceptions and the young guys hopping on a couple of loose fumbles. Before the half, the old gents were able to advance the ball with the short game and cross the line with a bruising run from Tank Adams, claiming two nick names on the day. The old guys went into the half-time beverage break up 2 scores to 1.

In the second half, the young pups decided to change their strategy and ran everything. After a number of strong runs from Chalmers and his team, Flagg found some space and smashed through a flurry of defenders to cross the line and tie the score.

With little time left and the old guys surprisingly getting some breaks from the refs, the old boys opted to put the ball in the air to go for the win. Darwin Guevara jumped on a ball thrown under pressure and took the pick for six to clinch the win for the young guys 3 scores to 2.

Thanks to Verdonk and Joey for reffing and to all those who showed up to play or support on the sidelines and break in the New Year with a club tradition. Best wishes to all for a successful 2014 both on and off the field!